1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, such as a digital camera, which is equipped with an image pickup element for photoelectrically converting an object image to an electric signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image pickup apparatus, such as a digital camera, throughput of an image pickup element and various ICs (integrated circuits) including driver ICs has increased with improvement in the capabilities of the image pickup apparatus, and accordingly power consumption has increased. For this reason, there is a fear that an increase in the amount of heat released from an IC will locally increase the temperature of a portion of an exterior of the electronic apparatus close to the IC.
Conventionally, as a technique of efficiently releasing heat generated within an image pickup apparatus, there has been proposed a digital camera provided with a heat release member having a hollow heat transfer part formed at an end thereof with an air circulating port (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-48517). In the proposed digital camera, the heat transfer part of the heat release member is disposed in contact with or close to an electric element as a heat emitting element, and the air circulating port-side end of the heat release member is fixed in the outer wall of a camera body such that the air circulating port-side end is exposed to the outside. Heat generated by the electric element is transferred to the heat transfer part and is released into the hollow part, whereby the heat is discharged out of the hollow part via the air circulating port.
Further, there has been proposed a camera having a recess formed in the camera body to accommodate a camera head connected to the camera body, and a printed circuit board as a heat emitting element disposed at a location facing the bottom wall of the recess (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-54159). In the proposed camera, heat generated by the printed circuit board is released into a space between the camera head and the bottom wall of the recess.
By the way, image pickup apparatuses, such as digital cameras, include a type which is configured such that a light flux incident through some of a plurality of lens groups is bent by a bending optical element, such as a prism, in a direction orthogonal to an incident optical axis, such that the light flux is guided to an image pickup element via the other lens groups. In the image pickup apparatus of this type, the image pickup element as a heat emitting element is disposed close to the exterior of a grip portion to be gripped by hand by a user, and hence the temperature of the grip portion is locally increased, which can feel odd or uncomfortable to the user. However, the techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-48517 and No. 2004-54159 cannot be employed for a heat releasing structure of this type of image pickup apparatus.